A month later, the day finally arrived when Elder Long was to step down from his position. His successor was a beautiful Gu cultivator from the Long clan. Long Xuan also prepared to depart for the Long family estate along with Elder Long.
Originally, Long Xuan had planned to send one of his clones instead of going himself, but plans changed quickly. It turned out that Elder Long's Evil Dragon Emperor Eye could see through his clone.
As a result, Long Xuan had to change his plan and decided to go in person for the ti being. He figured it wouldn't be too late to send his clone once it was perfected to the point where the Evil Dragon Emperor Eye couldn't detect it.
However, with a Rank-3 alchemist as his backer, Long Xuan didn't expect to encounter any danger on this trip.
One shouldn't underestimate the status of a Rank-3 alchemist within a family. Elder Long’s current standing in the Long family was just below that of the Long clan’s ancestor, almost on par with the head of the family.
Even if the current family head were to break through to the Gu King level, they would still need to rely on this Rank-3 alchemist. As the personal disciple of such an alchemist, Long Xuan could walk freely within the Long clan without fear, as no one would dare provoke him.
Since this journey would take so ti, Long Xuan entrusted his dicine garden to wood clone to manage.
Elder Long’s dicine garden was left to the new female Gu cultivator from the Long clan, allowing Long Xuan’s wood clone to be freed up. Given his status as the personal disciple of a Rank-3 alchemist, Long Xuan wasn't worried that the new Gu cultivator would target his dicine garden, so he could leave with peace of mind.
...
The only reason the Long family managed to govern Great Stone Village was its proximity; it was only two days' travel at full speed between the two locations.
Two days later...
Long Xuan stared at the barren mountain, his mouth slightly agape in surprise.
On the way, he had seen other mountains, either filled with dicine gardens or teeming with cattle and sheep. So even had fish ponds with various spirit fish. Everywhere he looked was a sight to behold, all of which were the property of the Long clan. It seed that the Long clan head managed the entire family estate quite well.
So why was Elder Long's place so different? The mountain was barren, as if stripped of its clothes, standing out starkly against the surrounding peaks. It was like a crane among chickens, simply too eye-catching.
Could this be the legendary "Little Poor Peak"? Long Xuan was utterly shocked.
Aren't alchemists supposed to be filthy rich? How did things turn out so differently for Elder Long?
"Master, you wouldn’t happen to be the poverty alleviation target in your village, would you?" Long Xuan muttered, staring at the desolate mountain before him.
Elder Long looked slightly embarrassed, his old face flushing a bit.
"I’ve been away for too long, and the mountain has been neglected. I ended up selling everything on the mountain."
"Plus, there were too many debt collectors, so I let them take whatever they wanted. But I never thought they would be so excessive, pulling out even the weeds and draining the fish pond dry. Is that sothing people would do?"
Elder Long's face was filled with helplessness.
Long Xuan's heart sank. He suddenly wondered if becoming Elder Long’s disciple was a mistake, if he had been too hasty in his decision. What if those hordes of debt collectors found out that Elder Long had a personal disciple? Wouldn't they co running to him for repaynt? The more he thought about it, the more his scalp tingled, and he felt utterly unsettled.
This place was a pit—a huge pit. He had truly jumped into a fiery pit. From now on, he had better never ntion being Elder Long’s disciple when out in the world.
But it might already be too late. As soon as Elder Long arrived here, he had bragged incessantly about becoming a Rank-3 alchemist and taking on a once-in-a-millennium alchemy prodigy as a disciple, announcing it to the world with a voice as loud as possible. He wanted everyone to know.
Now, all the people with the surna Long here likely knew that Elder Long had a disciple nad Long Xuan. He was famous now!
Long Xuan was completely numb.
"Since I am one of the few alchemists in the Long family, I’ve been assigned a large territory. Now, all of this land is yours to manage," Elder Long said.
"Don’t you have a lot of clones? Send them to plant spirit herbs as quickly as possible. Also, refill the fish pond with water and add so fish fry."
"As a Rank-3 alchemy master, I can’t have a barren ho, can I? It would be a joke to others."
Hearing this, Long Xuan was stunned. Let his clones do the work? Sothing about that didn't feel right.
Long Xuan extended his hand to Elder Long, who looked puzzled. Long Xuan reminded him, "The money for fish fry and herb seeds—you’re not expecting your disciple to pay out of his own pocket, are you?"
Elder Long’s expression turned bitter. Asking him for money? His pockets were even cleaner than his face. How could he dare ask for money? He was broke!
After refining a few Rank-3 spirit pills, he was really out of money, unable to even scrape together half a spirit stone. He had even been freeloading als from his disciple recently.
But if he borrowed money from his disciple or asked him to pay first, even with his thick skin, Elder Long found it hard to say out loud. So he could only laugh dryly and say, "Master is a bit tight on money recently."
"How about this? You plant as much as you can, as long as the land isn't left empty. Even if it's just first-grade spirit herbs, that’s fine."
"When the spirit herbs mature, they’ll be all yours. For , it’s more profitable to casually refine a few Rank-3 spirit pills. I don't even care about small money anymore."
...
anwhile, in the Long clan’s council hall...
The current clan head, Long Wanli, sat at the head of the conference table. Ten elders, each exuding a Spiritual Sea stage aura, sat symtrically on either side of the oval-shaped table.
Each person was clad in a black robe, with dragons embroidered on them—a traditional attire of the Long clan.
The dragon was the symbol of the Long clan, its totem. The dragons embroidered on their clothing reflected their status within the family.
Stewards had three-clawed divine dragons, hall masters had four-clawed divine dragons, while the clan head and the venerable elders present at the eting had five-clawed divine dragons. The seldom-seen ancestors who rarely participate had twin dragons embroidered on their robes.
Ordinary disciples had no dragons on their robes or only embroidered broken dragons. No one could overstep these boundaries, or they would face severe punishnt according to family rules.
Those who made outstanding contributions to the family could even have dragon tattoos. The Long clan’s rules were strict, and its ceremonies were nurous.
Once all the elders had arrived, Clan Head Long Wanli glanced around the room before finally speaking: "Since our clan obtained the right to mine one-seventh of the fossilized ore vein, our revenues have increased daily, and the family’s total inco has reached new heights year after year."
"But we still face the problem of uneven distribution. No one can say whether a given area is rich in minerals or poor, and the underground tunnels are as complex as a maze. When two families happen to mine close to each other, conflicts arise."
"Recently, our clan has frequently clashed with the Feng clan, and many miners have died in the process. If these conflicts continue, both sides will lose too many people, and mining will no longer be profitable."
"The purpose of this eting today is to discuss this issue. Do any of you have good suggestions?"
The clan head's words made all the elders' expressions turn serious, and the atmosphere in the eting grew heavy.
The first elder, whose status was second only to the clan head, stroked his beard and spoke first: "You must understand, there is no good solution to this problem."
"With Feng Qingyang’s temperant, even if nothing is wrong, he’ll find sothing to cause trouble. Even if we co up with the perfect solution, so what? Even if we concede, it won’t prevent conflicts from arising."
Hearing this, the other elders all nodded in agreent, clearly well aware of Feng Qingyang's personality.
The second elder then chid in: "Though there’s no perfect solution, we can’t just leave the issue unresolved."
"In the past, almost all disputes were settled through duels, where the losing side would concede."
"I suggest we use the sa thod to resolve this matter."
Long Wanli responded imdiately: "I’ve considered that approach, but there's no guarantee of winning in a fight. Duels are risky, and accidents can happen. If we lose a genius because of this, it would be a huge loss."
At this point, the third elder chuckled and said, "I heard that Long Ao recently took on a prodigy with the Ten Absolute Bodies. With such a physique, he’s invincible among those of the sa level and highly likely to defeat those above his level. Sending him would guarantee victory."
The tenth elder, who seed out of the loop, was surprised upon hearing this. He said in astonishnt, "But isn’t the Ten Absolute Bodies unable to cultivate? Did the world change after I ca out of seclusion?"
The fourth elder, a female Gu cultivator, smiled and explained, "You may not know, but after the ergence of the Yaoguang Ancient Tomb, the cultivation technique she practiced spread everywhere."
"Coincidentally, her 'Sun and Moon Heart Sutra' can perfectly match with the Ten Absolute Bodies. You must know that the clone cultivated from the 'Sun and Moon Heart Sutra' can cultivate on behalf of the main body, perfectly solving the drawbacks of the Ten Absolute Bodies."
"So this Ten Absolute Bodies has now beco a peerless genius capable of cultivation, already qualified to enter the Long family for training. Otherwise, how could we agree to let Long Ao bring him into the family?"
Hearing this, the tenth elder was even more shocked. The idea that an clone could cultivate on behalf of the main body made his eyes burn with desire, but the fourth elder quickly poured cold water on him.
The fourth elder, seemingly seeing through his thoughts, hurriedly warned, "I advise you not to get any ideas about that technique. It's already spread everywhere and can be learned by anyone."
"But without exception, everyone who has learned it has encountered problems. They've either been killed by their clone or replaced by it and are now mingling among the masses. This technique has been classified as a forbidden art by all clans and races, and it's prohibited for anyone to study it."
"The owner of that tomb was a lunatic. She seed intent on spreading her technique far and wide, letting everyone learn the world's top cultivation technique. It's absolute madness!"
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